Maine

[Dougtone]

Thanks to some good old ingenuity, the Bailey Island Bridge connecting Bailey Island with Orr's Island along ME 24 in Harpswell, Maine is one of a kind. It is said to be the only bridge in the world built using granite slabs and constructed in a cribstone pattern, allowing for the free movement of tides.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2023/10/bailey-island-bridge-cribstone-bridge.html

[yakra]

I-395 / Future ME9 connector

News ahticle bub:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhzHF_dLTaQ

Friggin' drone footage, guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5LdLoyuXOk

[yakra]

https://wgme.com/news/local/i-95-connector-from-south-portland-to-gorham-taking-the-next-step

[vdeane]

https://wgme.com/news/local/i-95-connector-from-south-portland-to-gorham-taking-the-next-step

West of the Turnpike: freeway
East of the Turnpike: freeway
At the Turnpike: diamond

Yeah, that's unfortunate.

[froggie]

https://wgme.com/news/local/i-95-connector-from-south-portland-to-gorham-taking-the-next-step

West of the Turnpike: freetollway

FTFY.  And given the expected traffic volumes, I don't really see a diamond at 95 being a major issue.

[pderocco]

Maybe a good spot for a diverging diamond.

[The Ghostbuster]

Will this connector be an extension of ME 112 or an extension of ME 703? If it is the former, maybe 703 could be renumbered as a further extension of ME 112.

[vdeane]

From the I-11 thread:

I those days, when you didn't need a passport, I suppose there was little need for I-95 to go from Houlton to Fort Kent, since you could always take route 2 in Canada.

Given how sparse it is, is there really a need for it to go there anyway?  I could see maybe Van Buren if you want to serve Presque Isle and Caribou, given that Van Buren is where US 1 turns off itself (the road goes straight into Canada and turns into NB 17).  I'm not really sure why US 1 went to Fort Kent to begin with, unless someone said "I want it to go to the top of Maine", realized that most of the roadway between Fort Kent and Estcourt is private logging roads, and then ended it at the bridge to the connecting roads to Estcourt through New Brunswick and Québec.

From this thread:

https://wgme.com/news/local/i-95-connector-from-south-portland-to-gorham-taking-the-next-step

West of the Turnpike: freetollway

FTFY.  And given the expected traffic volumes, I don't really see a diamond at 95 being a major issue.

"Freeway" as in the term for limited access highways where access is provided at interchanges instead of at-grades (the FHWA version of the term).  Not "free" as in "free beer".

[SectorZ]

Will this connector be an extension of ME 112 or an extension of ME 703? If it is the former, maybe 703 could be renumbered as a further extension of ME 112.

I hope it's not a 112 extension because the directionality is already wrecked. You'd be going "south" on 112 from I-95 while going northwest to Gorham. Maybe they can give the new road a new number, re-number the Gorham bypass part of 112 with that number and end ME 112 at ME 25. Maybe call it 114 and give renumber the existing parallel 114 stretch to 114A, but then you would need a small non-freeway/expressway stretch of 114 to go back to Gorham center, so perhaps a unique and new number would be best.

[froggie]

https://wgme.com/news/local/i-95-connector-from-south-portland-to-gorham-taking-the-next-step

West of the Turnpike: freetollway

FTFY.  And given the expected traffic volumes, I don't really see a diamond at 95 being a major issue.

"Freeway" as in the term for limited access highways where access is provided at interchanges instead of at-grades (the FHWA version of the term).  Not "free" as in "free beer".

You missed the point.

Will this connector be an extension of ME 112 or an extension of ME 703? If it is the former, maybe 703 could be renumbered as a further extension of ME 112.

I hope it's not a 112 extension because the directionality is already wrecked. You'd be going "south" on 112 from I-95 while going northwest to Gorham. Maybe they can give the new road a new number, re-number the Gorham bypass part of 112 with that number and end ME 112 at ME 25. Maybe call it 114 and give renumber the existing parallel 114 stretch to 114A, but then you would need a small non-freeway/expressway stretch of 114 to go back to Gorham center, so perhaps a unique and new number would be best.

Or, alternatively, give it its own route number...there are numerous ones to choose from.  When I conceptualized the connector a decade ago (based on proposals/ studies at the time), I borrowed from yakra and gave the whole corridor (Gorham Bypass-connector-Scarborough) the ME 20 moniker.

[kramie13]

Today I learned that there is a hotel in Saco called the "Exit 5 Motel & Cottages".  But to get there, you are taking Exit 2A off of I-195.

I do remember the first time I visited Maine, back in 1995, the exit for I-195 from I-95 was Exit 5.  Is the hotel's name a remnant of sequential exit numbering in Maine?  I'm surprised they haven't renamed themselves since the mileage-based renumbering occurred twenty years ago!

[shadyjay]

I hope it's not a 112 extension because the directionality is already wrecked. You'd be going "south" on 112 from I-95 while going northwest to Gorham.

There are A LOT of places in Maine where the directionality is whacked.  I can't tell you how many roads I've been on in southern Maine where I'm going NORTH and SOUTH at the same time!  I've been turned-around more times in Maine than any other state.  And sometimes, you get turned around so much, you don't have any directionality whatsover... just a ROUTE.
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.3633594,-68.3070925,3a,15y,172.72h,89.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sJNYo_ValHRUWL4QOmdjQeg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

[Rothman]

I hope it's not a 112 extension because the directionality is already wrecked. You'd be going "south" on 112 from I-95 while going northwest to Gorham.

There are A LOT of places in Maine where the directionality is whacked.  I can't tell you how many roads I've been on in southern Maine where I'm going NORTH and SOUTH at the same time!  I've been turned-around more times in Maine than any other state.  And sometimes, you get turned around so much, you don't have any directionality whatsover... just a ROUTE.
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.3633594,-68.3070925,3a,15y,172.72h,89.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sJNYo_ValHRUWL4QOmdjQeg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

When you're on an island and there's only one way off, directions become simpler.

[bmitchelf]

Today I learned that there is a hotel in Saco called the "Exit 5 Motel & Cottages".  But to get there, you are taking Exit 2A off of I-195.

I do remember the first time I visited Maine, back in 1995, the exit for I-195 from I-95 was Exit 5.  Is the hotel's name a remnant of sequential exit numbering in Maine?  I'm surprised they haven't renamed themselves since the mileage-based renumbering occurred twenty years ago!

Looks like they've only been in business for 20 years. I think it's just that they're located on route 5 just off the exit, even though the signs on the highway going east say go straight for route 5.

[Ted$8roadFan]

With the eclipse coming Monday, how many will be traveling to Maine (esp. northern Maine) to witness it? Hopefully, the roads will be able to handle the crowds, whatever they may be.

[sturmde]

Eclipse traffic on Maine's I-95 and I-295 performed admirably.
.
Contrast with the hell that New Hampshire and Vermont had.
.
Of course, long range forecasts predicted cloudy skies in Maine, and that's the normal climate.  So everyone who planned ahead, planned Mexico, Texas, anywhere but here in Maine.... Those of us left behind benefitted!  Took me only an hour to drive north from Bangor at 1 p.m.  80 mph except at the Millinocket exit.  Got to Benedicta and St. Benedict Catholic Church at 2:10 pm, set up camera and exhibits... and we had great fun the next two hours.  Left with 30 minutes of partial left... and traffic was maintaining about 70 mph, again except at each exit merge, but 95 was all green or yellow the rest of the day.  The new ORT tollbooth at Mile 8 in York, what was always the big backup... had no backups at all, except for those who don't have EZPass and had to pay the tolls.  We don't do License Plate Bingo in Maine.  If you get camera'd skipping a toll, you pay a fine, not just the toll...

[yakra]

Exit 5 Motel & Cottages was surely named after the old exit number, not the route.
Yankees give directions by where stuff used to be 20 years ago. Including the exit numbers, which are burned into old-timah's brains, resistant to change.

The legendary Exit 8 isn't just a highway interchange, but an entire neighborhood at the Portland/Westbrook line. Google "Exit 8" Westbrook and after sifting few a few "Exit 48 (formerly Exit 8)" references (notable that some folks still find that necessary after 20 years) you can find some stuff still referring to it as if it's the current number. E.G., lots of hotel listings, for some reason. User-generated content, maybe?

WESTBROOK, ME - DECEMBER 3: Vehicles pass thorugh the tollbooth at Exit 8 in Westbrook before traveling on I-95 on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. (Photo by Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

I mean, I still call the Portland Brighton Avenue, Exit 8, and probably always will.




Eclipse traffic was the inspiration for the upcoming Kurt Russell sequel, Escape from Carrabassett Valley.
There aren't that many ways out of that corner of the state. Traffic ground to a halt well before the town line -- maybe even before entering Wyman Twp, and it was about 4 hours of crawling along with my foot on the brake because idle speed was just too fast, and occasionally just shutting the engine off.
There were some police officers directing traffic at Sugarloaf; tons of people had gone there. On a normal day, a stop sign is fine. No traffic light.

My parents & I had suspected Sugarloaf may have been the bottleneck, and a few times I even considered pulling a Uey and taking 16 to Rangeley, but I stuck through it. Probably just as well; it's a big enough tourist destination in its own right. I later saw on Reddit that it took a good 3 hours to get out of there anyway.

Finally began to speed up on the approach to downtown Kingfield. A little surprising IMO, I wouldn't expect the other routes out to be getting terribly high traffic, but it was welcome.
(ME16 goes east to where people had just as many good viewing options in their own backyard, or easier access farther north. ME142? Well, on second thought, I could see people using 142 to head toward the Naples-Bridgton-Fryeburg area, north-central NH, etc.)

A good number of travelers stopped off at a supermarket plaza there at the first sign of civilization to use the restroom. Some nogoodnik had broken the facilities, and an employee was standing out front to direct everybody to the laundromat next door. The line was out the front door, but thankfully it moved faster than ME27 did. One of presumably the owners was there, keeping it stocked with TP. It was a bit stinky. I opened the window.
A big thanks to the proprietors there, the unsung heroes of Eclipse 2024.